We're gonna have a baby!!!

We just found out this week that I am indeed pregnant! We're still pretty shocked, but really excited and totally terrified... that's normal right? I don't know what it is about moving overseas - maybe it's the winter, the lack of electricity, the new bacteria in the drinking water...but whatever it is we are pregnant and couldn't be more excited. It is still really early, only 5 weeks, but I will be going to the doctor probably next week to make sure everything is on track. So, sometime in November we are going to have a baby.....WHAT?! Maybe I can share a birthday with someone else! Or maybe you can Chelsea, or you Sarah, or you AB, or you Jennifer, or Beth... there are so many great days in November to be born! We'll keep you posted!

leaving on a jet plane

We bought our plane tickets this week! Michelle (aka Fife) found us an incredible deal! Both our tickets to Istanbul were under $1200! It was kinda weird buying one way tickets, but I'm super excited. So we are leaving Houston on January 22 and will arrive in Iraq on January 25th. We will get to spend a day in Istanbul and might get to catch up with some friends, so that should be fun! It is a pretty big relief to have a departure date and see and end in sight to the 'preparation phase' of getting ready to go. We're really going!
This week of global celebration at our church has been a really wonderful time of affirmation and opportunity to share about what is going on in Iraq. It has been great to see Jeremy and Michelle and I'm so thankful to all of the families and individuals at our church who have been such incredible advocates for us! So...62 days until we leave. Jeff quit his job last week and Friday is my last day at my job, so we will be traveling a lot and get to spend some good time with family before we leave. I had my sad week a couple weeks ago and now I'm just ready and really excited! I'm dreading the good byes as I know those will be REALLY sad, but I feel an extreme sense of peace and joy for what is ahead.

Woo Hoo!

Great news! Jeff & I both have part time jobs!!! I am continually amazed at God's faithful provision.... and humbled by my less than faithful belief in Him. God really is who he says he is - nothing groundbreaking, but still it is easy to allow myself to be burdened by the dailyness of life and forget the big picture of God's greatness and goodness. I still marvel at how much he loves us and wants to provide for us - maybe not always when and how we ask him to - but he actually delights to be our Provider...

So, about the jobs! I will be going back to work at Farmers Insurance every afternoon from 1-5 and babysitting for a family from the church a few nights a week. Jeff will be working at a bank as a personal banker part time! Thank you all for your prayers for us and glory be to God who gives us every good thing!

It's Official

I gave my notice on Monday and my last day with my current job will be July 25th. We are moving back to Waco! We are pretty excited about this. While we have built a home and life here in the Metroplex and it was really good for us to grow together in our first 6 months away from most of our friends and family... we are ready to be back in 'community'. I've felt pretty lost without it and I'm really anxious to return to it! I'm excited to return to a church that feels more like 'home'. And I know it is weird to some people - but I seriously love Waco!!! We will be spending the next few weeks figuring out what we want to store when we move overseas and what we want to sell, then we will be packing everything up, dropping a few things off in Waco and moving the rest down to a storage unit in Corpus until we're ready to sell it all in the fall! So, if you are looking for some random furniture, or a VW Beetle with 135,000 miles on it... let us know cause we'll be selling them soonish!